PERTH, Australia — While smartphones have become increasingly sophisticated over the years, most people consider them useless once they break. An angler in Australia decided to disprove this theory by rigging a broken iPhone with a treble hook and filming the ensuing action.

Fisherman Brett Stanford posted the video on YouTube, where it’s gained a lot of attention. According to a report from WAtoday, Stanford is part of a group of friends that are known for unique fishing tactics. In fact, they used kitchen utensils last year to catch some nice salmon.

"(The iPhone) resembles in some way a fleeing fish. If you look at it, it's probably the size of a herring or something, so we thought it was a chance at working," Stanford told WAtoday.

In the video, Stanford shows off his makeshift lure and then casts it out into the waves of Bunker Bay. Moments later, he hooks into a large fish. The salmon put up a spirited fight, going airborne on multiple occasions.

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What's the strangest lure you've ever used to catch a fish?

At one time or another, most anglers experiment with strange lures. Sometimes it happens when the last of the bait is gone or the final fly breaks off. Other times it's out of sheer desperation when nothing else is working. But there typically comes a time when the traditional elements of fishing give way to bizarre tactics.

According to the video’s description, the salmon weighed about 11 pounds. Stanford seemed genuinely surprised as he landed the fish and then released it to fight another day.

"Even normal fishing lures (other people were using at the beach) weren't working consistently so it's pretty amazing that the iPhone worked at all," Stanford said.

Perhaps his unique experiment will keep a few broken iPhones out of the landfill in the future as their owners try to repurpose them as fishing lures.

What's the strangest thing you've used as a fishing lure? Let us know in the comments.

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